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Tim Reynolds - Live At Radio City Artist: Tim Reynolds Review: Long before is band was treating stadium crowds to sax solos and jammy polyrhythms, Dave Matthews was a frat-house troubadour, playing freewheeling acoustic gigs with his buddy, guitar whiz Tim Reynolds. Matthews has kept doing the occasional unplugged show through the years, and on this two-disc live album, recorded in April, much of his material stands up just fine without full-band wizardry. Matthews highlights the warm, sensitive-dude beauty at the heart of cuts like the previously unrecorde... Rating: 3 Stars
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Published: 2007-08-07
Provider: Rolling Stone
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John Mellencamp Rocks a NYC Bookstore With Bluesy New Tracks, Classic Hits John Mellencamp delivered his usual rousing arena show in New York on Friday night, complete with hits from “Pink Houses” to “Authority Song.” But he and his full band (minus backing singers) happened to be crammed onto a tiny stage inside SoHo’s Housing Works Bookstore — where they played to an audience of only 200 people. The intimacy of the charity show meant that Mellencamp got a closer look than usual at his fanbase. “Is anybody here under thirty?” he asked early on. When only a few people in the graying crowd cheered, he laughed and added, “I’m worried about the future!” Scattered among the hits were several songs from Mellencamp’s upcoming new album, Life, Death, Love and Freedom (produced by T-Bone Burnett), which are some of his most downbeat and bluesy tunes ever, with lyrics that show a Time Out of Mind-style preoccupation with mortality. The crowd received the quieter new songs with respectful silence, and then went nuts for “If I Die Sudden,” which rode on a ZZ Top-style blues riff. During a solo acoustic version of the dark “Ride Back Home (Hey Jesus),” Mellencamp sang the line “My time’s come and gone,” and a fan immediately yelled back, “You’ve still got it, John!” Mellencamp, who’s being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March, will tour Canada throughout February; his new album is due sometime later this year. Friday’s charity show marked the fifth anniversary of the Housing Works’ Live From Home series (founded by Rolling Stone contributor Alan Light), which raises money for homeless, HIV-positive New Yorkers. Related Stories: 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: Madonna, Beastie Boys, More Farm Aid 2007: Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson Bring Diverse Lineup, Loads of Covers to NYC Walter Reed Welcomes Mellencamp, Snubs Baez and Rather [Photo: David Atlas]
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Published: 2008-01-28
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows
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CMJ 2007, Night Three: Tiny Masters Of Today, 1990s and British Sea Power One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on: One night after Dan Deacon metaphorically brought the house down, the Bowery Ballroom played host to another anticipated CMJ showcase. First up on the bill were the Tiny Masters of Today, featuring two siblings, thirteen-year-old guitarist-vocalist Ivan and eleven-year-old bassist-vocalist Ada, and a father-figure-like man on drums (yes, folks, we know it’s onetime Jon Spencer Blues Explosion kitman Russell Simins). The wear-and-tear of CMJ showcases seemed to drain the youngsters, as the duo seemed lethargic throughout their performance, like they’ve been staying up way past their bedtimes. When they were on, they sounded like pre-teen Ramones playing Paddy Cake, especially on songs like “Hey Mr. DJ” and the Ada-sung anti-George W. rocker “Bushy.” The band closed out their set with a Kidz Bop-esque version of House of Pain’s “Jump Around.” Yeah, they were cute, but hopefully this band’s sound continues to mature or they might grow up and no one will like them anymore, like Frankie Munoz. Next up was the decade that spawned the Tiny Masters, the 1990s. While their name conjures up images of grunge and Bill Clinton, the Glasgow trio is more indebted to the late Seventies/early Eighties, especially given the Buzzcockish riffs and Elvis Costello bounce of their songs. Singer-guitarist Jackie McKeown, who was once in a band called the Yummy Fur with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, delighted the steadily-increasing Bowery crowd with songs from debut album Cookies. U.K. single “You’re Supposed To Be My Friend” and “Enjoying Myself” (with a Modern Lovers’ “Road Runner” tease)
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Published: 2007-10-20
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: CMJ
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International Report: Live Earth Sydney We asked Rolling Stone’s international editions to report on the Live Earth concerts nearest them. Here’s the report from Dan Lander of Rolling Stone Australia on Live Earth Sydney: WHO PLAYED: Wolfmother, Jack Johnson, Crowded House, Blue King Brown, Toni Collette, Sneaky Sound System, Ghostwriters, Paul Kelly, Eskimo Joe, Missy Higgins, John Butler Trio HIGHLIGHTS: • Crowded House joined by everybody on the bill for a sing-along version of “Weather With You”, a song which took on a new meaning under the circumstances. • An intense-as-hell drum solo from the John Butler Trio’s Michael Barker, the perfect foil to Butler’s equally intense demand to Australia’s leaders not to introduce nuclear energy as an answer to global warming (we have much better options). The JBT set was a standout overall – there is no one on the planet who sounds better at an outside gig than these guys. • Paul Kelly joined by Kev Carmody, Missy Higgins and John Butler for “From Little Things Big Things Grow”. The whole crowd sung along – all eleven verses. MOST UNEXPECTED MOMENT: Academy-Award nominated actress Toni Collette and her band the Finish closing their set with a very fitting cover of T-Rex’s “Children of the Revolution”, proving not every actor who tries their hand at music need be as bad as Russell Crowe.
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Published: 2007-07-07
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Live Earth, Live Earth International Report
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Liam Finn: Artist to Watch 2008 Over at the Breaking Blog, we’ll be spotlighting acts from our Artists to Watch package for the next week. First up is Liam Finn, the singer-songwriter son of Crowded House’s Neil Finn. To find out how a biker gang once held a teenaged Finn hostage and why he named his first band Betchadupa — and to watch Finn serenading passersby on a busy downtown New York City street — click here. To check out the rest of our Artists to Watch coverage, complete with videos and key tracks, click here.
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Published: 2007-11-15
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Artist to Watch, Breaking
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Tom Morello Welcomes Slash, Perry Farrell, Flea at All-Star “Justice Tour” Stop Tom Morello kicked off his seven-city “Justice Tour” last night by calling every able-bodied rock legend in Los Angeles for a surreal night of music and social awareness at the Troubadour. “This is what happens when I go through my Blackberry,” Morello joked to the crowd before Stuart Copeland snuck behind the drums and Perry Farrell grabbed the mike for a thundering version of the Police’s “Message in a Bottle” just twenty minutes into the evening. It was the start of a marathon night that would showcase unforgettable collaborations by rock royalty for more than three and half hours. The concert featured early acoustic performances by Morello, Pete Yorn, Jerry Cantrell and the MC5’s Wayne Kramer. Morello — acting as master of ceremonies and orchestrating the chaos — then brought out what would serve as the nucleus of the evening’s house band: Travis Barker on drums, Flea playing bass and a rotating lineup of Steve Vai, Slash, Dave Navarro and Morello sharing guitar duties. The dream team backed up Cantrell for a version of Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” and rocked out covers such as Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” Throughout the evening Morello spoke about the tour’s goal of promoting local social activism and tackling problems endemic to each host city. While the activism is integral to the tour, Morello is quick to point out that the mood is celebratory and he views each night as “a freedom party.” Sen Dog and B-Real of Cypress Hill didn’t need any help celebrating as they arrived onstage (joint in hand) to knock out “Insane in the Brain” and “Rock Superstar.” Morello closed out the show with a poignant rendition of the Woody Guthrie classic “This Land is Your Land” (like he did at SXSW) that had every voice in the packed club singing backup. [Photos: Shinn/Retna]
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Published: 2008-04-16
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows
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SXSW Day Two Wrap-Up: Lou Reed, Vampire Weekend, Black Mountain and More Follow all of Rolling Stone’s ongoing SXSW coverage — photos, video, interviews and live reports — here. Before most bands rolled out of bed Thursday morning, Lou Reed delivered his SXSW keynote speech. Though Reed doesn’t always strive to be a crowd-pleaser, he was in a surprisingly sharing mood, earning laughs with lines like “I have a B.A. in dope, but a Ph. D in soul,” and by explaining how The Bourne Ultimatum is one of his favorite movies. In addition to discussing Berlin (”It’s about jealousy, and in that sense, it’s romantic”) and Julian Schnabel’s live document of the album, Reed ripped into the rise of MP3s — “Here’s your song reduced to a pin-drop,” “You have a lot available and it all sounds bad.” He also gave an impromptu spoken-word performance of “Rock Minuet,” praised the music of Dr. Dog and Holy Fuck, and left the door open for the possibility of full performances of Magic and Loss and Street Hassle, although he called the Berlin shows “not an audition” for playing other albums live. A few hours later in the afternoon, scads of Vampire Weekend fans lined up outside the Parish three hours before were scheduled to play, and those who got into the venue early had the pleasure of seeing Yeasayer — whose tweaked, psychedelic take on art-funk made us wish we had a blunt to blaze. The NPR party eventually wrapped with that anticipated Vampire Weekend performance, a loose-limbed take on their usual set, including “M79,” “A-Punk” and “Blake’s Got A New Face” among its finer moments. Kings of Leon’s Nathan Followill was in the house for much of the event, noting the physical similarities between VW’s Rostam Batmanglij and American Idol’s adorable David Archuleta. (Look again. They could be cousins.) It was worth getting to the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans s
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Published: 2008-03-14
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, SXSW
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Duran Duran Roll Out the “Red Carpet” and Draw Trump, Olsen Twin to Broadway The name Duran Duran conjures many images, most of which aren’t dated past 1986, from skinny ties to copious amounts of lip gloss to awkward dancing. All three were fabulously in full effect Friday night as a wildly diverse New York crowd that included Donald Trump and an Olsen twin welcomed the band to Broadway’s intimate Ethyl Barrymore Theatre, where the group is in the midst of a nine-night run promoting their latest record, Red Carpet Massacre. Broken down into three Broadway-style “acts,” Duran Duran kicked off the show playing their new album in its entirety, showing off their new repertoire’s Timbaland and Danja-enhanced beats, which came off as the most relevant and consistent body of music they have put together in a long time. Despite a couple of snoozers like “Box Full O’ Honey,” the packed house — which was filled Eighties enthusiasts in addition to the famous faces — rarely left their feet. Tracks like “Nite Runner” and “Skin Divers” provided the most impressive rump-shakers of the evening, complete with ersatz versions of Timbaland and what appeared to be a pop-locking dominatrix. After an intermission and a costume change, the group returned to the stage for the brief “techno” portion of the evening, which saw four of the five original members (founding guitarist Andy Taylor bowed out in 2006) standing in Kraftwerk-ian formation behind keyboards and an electronic drum set. Modified versions of classics followed with “I Don’t Want Your Love” and “All She Wants Is” as well as an impressive cover of “Warm Leatherette” setting the tone for what was to follow: an avalanche of hits. With a full brass section in tow, the band quickly returned to more traditional bass/drums/guitar set-up (guitarist Dominic Brown subbed for Andy Taylor) and ripped through “Notorious,” “The Reflex” and “A View to a Kill.” Simon Le Bon shimmied and goaded the crowd, showing off his charming showmanship and the band never let their energy dip. And when they b
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Published: 2007-11-06
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows
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